Bears will adjust offense to cover for offensive line

Earlier this week, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said he was “uneasy” in the pocket because of the intense pressure he faces from opposing defenses.

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz is willing to change the offense to make life easier for Cutler. Martz said that the team will start calling more plays featuring quick throws so that Cutler isn’t a sitting duck. The changes should be implemented in time for Sunday’s game against Jared Allen and the Vikings.

“We’re working on it,’’ Martz said. ‘‘He’s absolutely right. We’ve talked about it as a staff, and we’ve addressed this issue.”

Martz said the team has been hampered by injuries to offensive linemen Gabe Carimi, Lance Louis and Chris Spencer and pointed to the offense’s strong game in the season opener when everyone was healthy as an example of the impact those injuries have had on the offense. The Bears will start their fifth different offensive line in six games this weekend when Louis takes over at right tackle and Spencer steps in at right guard.

While it is smart to adjust the offense to the personnel at hand, the Bears won’t truly solve these problems until they upgrade the talent in front of Cutler. Quick passes and rollouts that allow Cutler to evade pressure long enough to throw won’t be enough to cover all the problems created by leaky blocking.

18 responses to “Bears will adjust offense to cover for offensive line”

To be honest, rollouts and short slants won’t do too much. Robison and Allen run ridiculously fast. Cutler may be up to it 90% of the time, but those two only need half an opportunity to make a big impact.

With Chris Cook stepping it up in the secondary, and the linebacking corps staying above average, it may be difficult to get that passing game going for a while. Martz might actually want to try some old school sweeps to take advantage of Winfield’s absence. If the line gave him time, Cutler could throw it at Asher Allen and Tyrell Johnson for the deep ball, but the defensive line might never let that happen.

Good for Smith, someone is finally getting the mad scientist to adjust his style which is hard to do, so the coach must have his respect. I still believe when I see it. Martz is a good OC when the coach is constantly checking him and reminding him to call plays within the team’s ability. Usually you want the coach to not hound the coordinators, but Martz requires the opposite…his ego is huge.

Bears should get on the phone with the Patriots and try to pry loose the german giant Sebastian Volmer, yes he has been hurt this year but he is getting healthy and is still a young player under contract and has a lot of upside – can play both left and right tackle – he has easily fended off Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis in games I have watched.

Wow, now they’re going to going to reveal the gameplan for Sunday as well? Let’s see, take advantage of the rookies playing safety, jump on all the quick inside routes, attack the right side of the o-line… even I’m prepared to beat Chicago now.

Martz said that the team will start calling more plays featuring quick throws so that Cutler isn’t a sitting duck.
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Any more of your game plan that you want to give the Vikings, moron?

That game against the Lions was, um, the worst effort i have ever seen by an OL. I give Cutler some respect for putting up with it. You could read the disgust on his face every time he pealed himself up from the turf.

“While it is smart to adjust the offense to the personnel at hand, the Bears won’t truly solve these problems until they upgrade the talent in front of Cutler.”
This is the heart of the problem. Jerry Angelo has done a poor job of acquiring talent for the o-line and the wr corps. I am tired of the blame falling on Lovie Smith. I think Smith, Martz and Mike Tice have done a solid job of coaching these players over the last two years. Our three losses have come vs. teams with a 14-1 record. For Cutler to have taken the beating that he took and Angelo to only draft an OT in the first round was not enough. Moving Webb to LT, losing Kruetz, and the overall failure of Chris Williams at tackle have had a cumulative effect on this team. Get better players Angelo. Paying Hester and moving him to WR to justify his pay is not smart. He’s a returner. Roy Williams? Seriously?! I like Knox. He’s a fifth rounder. Once again trying to cut corners. We were a game from the Super Bowl. Upgrade son. I know the McCaskey’s are cheap. Do it thru the draft. Draft better. Better yet. Get him outta here. Let Angelo go.

Martz’s problem has been he’s never been willing to adjust his offense for his players. His offense is still designed for a fast reading and adjusting Kurt Warner with Faulk, Bruce and Holt making similar pre-snap reads to adjust for blitzes. Also, they had Orlando Pace a possible future Hall of Famer or at least 7X Pro Bowler and 5X All Pro Left Tackle. So the obvious result when Martz has to work with lesser talent his QB gets killed (see: Marc Bulger, JT O’Sullivan, Shuan Hill, Jay Cutler).

Singletary did the same thing with Martz in 08. He throttled back Martz’s every offensive play is a 7 step drop 20+ yard pass. Back then the offense started to become consistent and productive. More underneath stuff with dump offs to Gore but still the threat of the deep ball. I actually thought the simplistic and conservative offensive philosophy of Singletary and Martz’s mad scientist passing attack was an effective synthesis of offensive philosophies. Many in the Bay Area wondered if Singletary would keep Martz in 09 under the same compromised yet effective circumstances. But Singletary went with his 1970’s run up the middle predictable offense with Jimmy Raye as OC.

Did anyone else notice on Monday Night’s game that Cutler was far more sucessful out of the Shotgun than taking those 7 step drops. Yet much of the Shotgun plays were used in the last 2 minutes. I’m not sure if it’s because Martz’s Offense just doesn’t have a lot of Shotgun plays because much of his offense is timed to go with those 7 step drops.

Jay Cutler was traded for because he is a QB who is comfortable in a long ball passing system. Scramble and throw from the run, take risks etc. was his trademark. Now they a going to train him to be a quick release fast read QB in the Martz system. Good luck as your going to need it. Try running the ball is my advice.